1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector, and particularly to a memory card connector adapted for connecting one or more memory cards to a printed circuit board (PCB).
2. Prior Art
In the personal computer (PC) field, memory cards are usually connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) by one or more memory card connectors. Some of these memory cards must comply with a standard defined by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), and such connectors are called PCMCIA connectors, or card bus connectors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,679 (""679) discloses one type of PCMCIA connector. The connector includes a dielectric header and a number of contacts retained in a portion of the dielectric header. Two opposite ends of each contact extend beyond opposite faces of the dielectric header. One of the ends of each contact, called the mating end, is adapted for mating with a terminal of an inserted memory card, and the other, called the mounting end, is adapted for being mounted to the PCB by SMT or through-hole technology. However, since the mounting ends of the contacts are supported by the dielectric header, the mounting ends may become bent so that they cannot be properly mounted to solder pads on the PCB.
The ""679 patent also discloses an alternate PCMCIA connector whose contacts are first electrically mounted to a daughter card and the daughter card is then inserted into an edge card connector that is mounted on a PCB. However, the daughter card is relatively expensive, and mounting the contacts to the daughter card is troublesome.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,999 discloses another alternate PCMCIA connector. The connector includes a dielectric insert located adjacent mounting ends of contacts of the connector. Although the connector solves the above bending problem, it requires the insert. Hence, an improved electrical connector is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
A first object of the present invention is to provide a memory card connector having contact supporting means for properly supporting or arranging mounting portions of contacts using the contact supporting means;
A second object of the present invention is to provide an assembly of the memory card connector, an adapter engageable with the memory card connector and a printed circuit board (PCB) on which the memory card connector and the adapter are mounted.
To obtain the above objects, a memory card connector of the present invention includes a dielectric header and a number of contacts retained in the header. The header has a base portion and two guiding arms extending from a face of the base portion. The base portion forms a tongue portion extending from an opposite face thereof. A number of contact receiving cavities are defined through said opposite faces of the base portion and along the tongue portion. Each contact has a mating portion and an engaging portion positioned at different heights. The mating portions extend through the cavities of the base portion and the engaging portions are fixedly and protectively received in the cavities of the tongue portion.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.